Yes Asia Review- Neutral

Today I shall be reviewing Yes Asia, which is the website I ordered the latest Gothic Lolita Bible from back in November. I could have ordered from Amazon Japan again, but I was curious to know what Yes Asia's service was like because they had some of the older GLBs in stock and listed for a reasonable price.

Ordering Process

The Yes Asia website is pretty straight-forward to use and all I had to do was search for the Gothic Lolita Bible in the search box. The website is a little crowded looking, but easy to navigate. The site lists the price in USD and then an estimate of the price in GBP. The reason that Yes Asia are being given a neutral review instead of a positive one is because I feel that they are not upfront with how much the final total will really be. Their site proudly displays the words "Free International Shipping" but it is only when you hover over the text that you will see that restrictions apply. The prices listed also don't include tax. Apparently my order did not qualify for free shipping and so the GLB I thought was going to cost about £12.50 actually ended up costing over £19 after tax and shipping. If I had ordered from Amazon Japan it would have been around £15 and judging by my Facebook feed, the people who ordered though Amazon got their copies a lot quicker than I did. However, it is worth noting that I opted for the slowest shipping option because the more expensive option would have costed me a ridiculous amount more.

Shipping

I placed my order on the 24th of November and using the estimated delivery time given, I worked out I should receive my GLB by the 17th of December. Unfortunately the UK postal service was having some severe issues in the run up to Christmas with long delays. In the end, my parcel actually arrived on the 23rd of December. Given the issue was with the UK post, Yes Asia cannot be blamed for the lateness of my parcel in this case. But considering the slower shipping didn't come with tracking, it was a bit tense waiting to see if my GLB would arrive safely!

When it did arrive on the 23rd, the box arrived a bit battered. This was probably because it was sitting in a UK depot for ages. I felt the taping of the box could have been done better.

Inside the box my GLB was wrapped up in bubble wrap. There wasn't too much chance of it getting damaged, but I feel the choice of box could have been better.

And here is the GLB! It came shrink-wrapped because it was brand new. The GLB was in perfect condition.

I am not saying to completely rule out buying from Yes Asia, but there are better options such as Amazon Japan, which are a bit more reliable. I think Yes Asia need to be more honest and straight-forward about their charges, because what can seem like a bargain can slowly become not such a great deal when you get to the checkout. Given the postal delays here in the UK, it is hard to judge just how quick the parcel would have come if it hadn't been held up. I would possibly use Yes Asia again if I saw they had something which Amazon Japan didn't but from now on I will be sticking with Amazon.